Analysis of the operational efficiency of township health centers in poverty-lifted counties and non-poverty counties in Hubei Province under the backdrop of rural revitalization
10.3760/cma.j.cn111325-20240523-00425
- VernacularTitle:乡村振兴背景下湖北省脱贫县与非贫困县乡镇卫生院运行效率分析
- Author:
Hongnian LI
1
;
Yanfang QIN
1
;
Jiaqi QIU
1
;
Yi PAN
1
;
Quan WANG
1
Author Information
1. 武汉大学公共卫生学院，武汉 430071
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Rural health services;
Health services research;
Rural health centers;
Rural revitalization;
Three-stage data envelopment analysis;
Operational efficiency
- From:
Chinese Journal of Hospital Administration
2024;40(11):880-887
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective:To study the operational efficiency of township health centers in poverty-lifted and non-poverty counties in Hubei Province in the new era of rural revitalization, so as to provide a reference for further promoting township health centers to make up for their shortcomings and improve their service capabilities.Methods:Data was sourced from databases such as the Health and Health Statistics Annual Report, Health Finance Annual Report of Hubei Province for the year 2022. The number of health technicians, business premises area, actual bed count, and the number of equipment worth more than 10 000 yuan in 1 010 township health centers from 36 poverty-lifted counties and 47 non-poverty counties in Hubei Province were taken as input variables. The number of discharged patients, total outpatient visits, the number of people aged 65 and above receiving health management, and the number of hypertensive and type 2 diabetes patients receiving standardized management were taken as output variables. The number of permanent population, per capita regional GDP, population density, urbanization rate, and local general public budget investment were taken as environmental variables. The three-stage data envelopment analysis(DEA) method was applied to measure the operational efficiency of township health centers in poverty-lifted and non-poverty counties in Hubei Province.Results:Environmental variables had different impacts on the operational efficiency of township health centers in poverty-lifted and non-poverty counties ( P<0.01). After removing the impacts, the comprehensive technical efficiency, pure technical efficiency, and scale efficiency of township health centers in poverty-lifted and non-poverty counties in Hubei Province were 0.894, 0.960, 0.931 and 0.840, 0.919, 0.911, respectively; there were 22 pure technical efficiency township health centers in poverty-lifted counties, accounting for 61.10%, with 13 having a scale efficiency of 1, accounting for 36.00%, and 19 with increasing returns to scale, accounting for 52.78%; there were 22 pure technical efficiency township health centers in non-poverty counties, accounting for 46.80%, with 13 having a scale efficiency of 1, accounting for 27.66%, and 22 with increasing returns to scale, accounting for 46.81%. Conclusions:The operational efficiency of poverty-lifted counties was better than that of non-poverty counties. The main reason for the poor operation efficiency of township health centers in poverty-lifted counties was the low scale efficiency, and the poor operation efficiency of township health centers in non-poverty counties was mainly due to insufficient investment in technology development and scale. It is suggested that township health centers in poverty-lifted counties should seize the strategic opportunity of rural revitalization and expand reasonably. Township health centers in non-poverty counties should innovate development methods while improving the capacity of basic medical services.
